Welcome to a Q&A with TV critic Matt Roush (also known to some TV fans as “the TV therapist”), who will attempt to cover everything you love, hate, are confused, frustrated, or excited about in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, this is the most common complaint, but subtitles are always available. this story For more tips.)

A word of warning: This is spoiler-free territory, so we won’t be covering upcoming stories here unless they’re already widely known. Please send your questions and comments to. (email protected)). Check out most Ask Matt columns on Tuesdays.

With Much Love To My Sir

Question: In your opinion NBC‘s To create will take a similar approach ABC‘s Big Sky As for defeating its main villain? Back spoiler alert of course, but Big SkyHalfway through the second season, big bad Ronald was eventually caught and killed by co-hero Cassie. Could this be an idea? To create Is he taking a moment to assume that the show’s not-so-great ratings won’t lead to its demise this season? The “Sir” storyline needs to end sometime to keep the series fresh, and if it continues for another few years I doubt they’ll keep it until the end of the series. So if the show were to continue for a few more seasons, do you think they would say goodbye to Sir with a shocking catch-and-kill and continue with the show? Big Sky introduced Reba McAll Is there a camp storyline in Season 3 in a post-Ronald world? I don’t know how long the series can continue the Sir story, it’s starting to get a little tired already. — shirley

Matt Roush: not knowing where you are To create going (because I will remind you again, this is not a spoiler post), I will speculate with some confidence To create running sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) will likely be a part of the show, but he may not always be free and he probably won’t be doomed to another long spell in Gabi’s basement.

Big Sky It was a very different show, with long arcs (sometimes spanning an entire season or more) that introduced new sets of villains for its heroines to take down, many inspired by C.J. Box’s terrific books. If the show had continued, I think they would have tried to find another high profile star like Reba. To create has some ongoing storylines (most notably Margaret’s missing son), which is primarily Gabi’s (Most importantly, a missing persons procedural)Shanola Hampton) strange Clarice/Hannibal Lecter-style connection with her former captor (who becomes his own prisoner for a time). No matter where the series takes Sir’s story, I’d be surprised if his capture alone takes him out of the series entirely. I could be wrong but it looks like it’s cooked inside. To createLike it or not, it’s his DNA.

The Incredible Shrinking Sitcom

Question: I have a quick question that I’m curious about. I watch all my television via streaming, and recently I noticed this: Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage Only 18 minutes without ads! Chapters are now so fast and short that it’s hard to get emotionally involved in the story. How long will it take to air a program that is 50% content and 50% advertising on commercial TV? We’re now just three minutes away from that! — Steve

Matt Roush: “Quick question.” I understand what you did there. I don’t have much to add to this observation other than to note that original episodes are getting longer and longer for premium cable and streaming – Dune: Prophecy Episodes last well over an hour, at least from what I’ve seen so far; The commercial burden on financially strapped TV streaming platforms has increased over the years, and this seems like an extreme example of that. These days I tend to applaud shows that don’t tire us out with excessive length, I believe in the right hands less can be more, but there are limits to that too. Or is there?

Danger! Tournament Passion

Question: recently Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Danger! executive producer Michael Davies He said that this year there will be 10 to 11 week long tournaments, which they call “post-season”. This includes Second Chance for non-winners, Wildcard of Champions for winners who do not automatically qualify, Tournament of Champions and Invitational. Producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss admitted that “some people are less excited” about the amount of tournaments, while Michael stated that it will run fewer weeks than last year and that “10 to 11 weeks is what we want.” We move forward every season. It looks like they haven’t learned from the negative reaction to the tournaments last year. Remember ToC, a special event that lasted only a few weeks and was worth looking forward to? Now it just seems like an annoyance. — jake

Matt Roush: Probably one of the reasons we relied so heavily on tournaments was the frustration felt by many fans last year when it took forever (due to strikes and other scheduling issues) to return to regular play. At least this season the show was able to launch with new contestants, and we’ve already found some new favorites that we’re looking forward to seeing again — although not in too many different tournament formats. It’s hard to believe that they fail to realize that they are diminishing the impact of the Contest of Champions by holding many other tournaments that give former players (and past winners) greater visibility at the expense of regular daily play.

Let Our New Favorites Stand Alone

Comment: I absolutely loved it matlock. I’m old enough to remember Andy Griffithversion but I have never watched it. Kathy Bates perfect at the beginning of this version. I never saw this twist coming in the pilot episode. This is a good thing. I’m a fan too Will Trent. I don’t like it when people think it’s necessary to compare one show to another (like Will Trent with columbo). I guess it’s human nature. I hope both matlock And Will Trent They are both enjoying the long run. — Sharon

Matt Roush: If you’re not familiar with Andy Griffith’s original, you should at least be able to appreciate how different this version is; Bates’ Matty basically adopts this persona as a cover for a secret crusade. Related Will TrentI get a lot of questions wondering why it’s not currently airing and this show (also rookie) will return mid-season, starting January 7. columboI assume the analogy is much better suited to shows like: Elsbeth And peacock‘s Poker face where you almost always know who is who at the beginning of the episode and then wait to see how the unorthodox hero figures it out.

And Finally…

Comment: I think any program that uses a lot of text in its plot should include subtitles for the text. I’m tired of backing up a show and having to stand right in front of the TV to read text on a character’s phone! — Tina T., Cape Cod, MA

Comment: I would enjoy AMC‘s Monsieur Spade It would have been so much more if the subtitles were on screen long enough to be read! Also, it drives me crazy that the subtitles blend in with the background and cannot be read at all. Can’t they do a better job? – clarkie

Matt Roush: These gripes (rather common in my mailbox) are a reminder to producers if you’re going to include on-screen written text, whether in phone messages or emails, in foreign languages ​​or difficult-to-decipher accents. , make them readable and give us time to read them! Larger type helps, and it’s prudent to place subtitles in front of contrasting backgrounds so they stand out from the scenery.

That’s it for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please continue to send your TV questions and comments to: (email protected). (Please include your name in your question.)